RACE: Lichtevelde, Best Yet

Saturday, Dec 20 marked my best cross race yet. The race took place at the "Dog-school" in Lichtervelde. A Dog-school is exactly that, there are obstacle courses, sheep for herding, obedience classes. The weather on Friday was cold and clear and Saturday saw high clouds, so the course was fairly clean and dry. The course was mostly flat, tacky pasture with a few deep mud sections, seven hairpin corners and a long, windy paved section.
Last weekend's race (12/14/08) went poorly. It was my first race with the support of a pit mechanic - Freddy - and it went badly in many ways: I was tired, my bikes were slow and I got lapped after 45 minutes. Freddy is a friend of my landlord's who likes cross and has offered to help me. He speaks less English than I speak Dutch, if that's possible, so we communicate with grunts and gestures, very manly. After last week I felt bad, like I'd wasted his day.
While riding to the race this week I had a good feeling about my performance. I had been strong in training all week and knew that I was well prepared. It was strangely exciting, like I had a secret. I couldn't tell Freddy because of the language barrier, this made it even better, knowing that I was going to surprise him.
Race prep went well. I decided to run low tire pressure and rely on my smoothness to avoid flats. By the way, low pressure means just over 20 PSI on a 34mm tire. I almost don't believe the pump's gauge, but that's what it says. Lining up was typical: last call-up. Interestingly, another American got first call up, a fella from RAD Racing in Seattle. I took my place at the back and prepared for another battle for position.
I passed 20 guys in the paved starting straight and then focused on picking off more riders. My predictions about my performance were correct, I was recovering from efforts quickly and accelerating strongly. My road riding strength showed every time I traversed the paved section; I passed most of my victims in the stiff cross wind. My biggest weaknesses are technical consistency and equipment, both factors made obvious in mud sections. Riders with deep carbon wheels easily roll through muck that bogs down my wheels - bastards. The consistency issue is a matter of doing more cross racing and learning to read mud and corners, already this season I am improving quickly.
The most exciting part of the race for me were the last 10 minutes. There was one rider who had stayed out of my reach the entire race. while other racers were quickly caught and passed he had held a 40 second lead on me. His lead would grow in the muddy sections and then shrink in the wind and the corners. With two laps to go I had narrowed his lead and knew I would catch him in the final road section. With a half lap to go I snagged my handle bar on a boundary rope and had to dismount and free my bike. He sped away, no doubt encouraged by my profanities. I pushed hard in the straights and corned smoothly, it was definitely my best lap. Into the final corner he had a 30 foot lead. Despite my best effort he beat me by a bike's length. Later I learned that this one position was the difference between being in the prize money and getting nothing. I finished 21st. Next time.